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Monday, February 28, 2011
words of the day
And the same black line that was drawn on you, was drawn on me and its drawing me in.....dylans son
words of the day
My friend owns the local diner in my hood. He told me today "you know alex, you dont answer to nobody" I thought about that for a minute and said " no, I dont" and thrn he said " and you never will" it kinda hit home. I dont answer to nobody. Never will, never have
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a day off
Im taking a day off. For me a day off is a visit to the mausoleum I am working for, a trip to the art supply store, about 10 watercolors and some busy work. I am not etching today nor am I painting..just some watercolors..Im worn out
I went numb when I learned to see
What we've got here is failure to communicate.
Some men you just can't reach...
So, you get what we had here last week,
Which is the way he wants it !
Well, he gets it !
N' I don't like it any more than you men.
Look at your young men fighting
Look at your women crying
Look at your young men dying
The way they've always done before
Look at the hate we're breeding
Look at the fear we're feeding
Look at the lives we're leading
The way we've always done before
My hands are tied
The billions shift from side to side
And the wars go on with brainwashed pride
For the love of God and our human rights
And all these things are swept aside
By bloody hands time can't deny
And are washed away by your genocide
And history hides the lies of our civil wars
D'you wear a black armband
When they shot the man
Who said "Peace could last forever"
And in my first memories
They shot Kennedy
I went numb when I learned to see
So I never fell for Vietnam
We got the wall of D.C. to remind us all
That you can't trust freedom
When it's not in your hands
When everybody's fightin'
For their promised land
And
I don't need your civil war
It feeds the rich while it buries the poor
You're power hungry sellin' soldiers
In a human grocery store
Ain't that fresh
I don't need your civil war
Look at the shoes you're filling
Look at the blood we're spilling
Look at the world we're killing
The way we've always done before
Look in the doubt we've wallowed
Look at the leaders we've followed
Look at the lies we've swallowed
And I don't want to hear no more
My hands are tied
For all I've seen has changed my mind
But still the wars go on as the years go by
With no love of God or our human rights
and all these dreams are swept aside
By bloody hands of the hypnotized
Who carry the cross of homicide
And history bears the scars of our civil wars
We practice selective annihilation
Of mayors and government officials
For example to create a vacuum
Then we fill that vacuum
As popular war advances
Peace is closer
I don't need your civil war
It feeds the rich while it buries the poor
You're power hungry sellin' soldiers
In a human grocery store
Ain't that fresh
And I don't need your civil war
I don't need your civil war
I don't need your civil war
You're power hungry sellin' soldiers
In a human grocery store
Ain't that fresh
I don't need your civil war
I don't need one more war
I don't need one more war
Whaz so civil 'bout war anyway?
Some men you just can't reach...
So, you get what we had here last week,
Which is the way he wants it !
Well, he gets it !
N' I don't like it any more than you men.
Look at your young men fighting
Look at your women crying
Look at your young men dying
The way they've always done before
Look at the hate we're breeding
Look at the fear we're feeding
Look at the lives we're leading
The way we've always done before
My hands are tied
The billions shift from side to side
And the wars go on with brainwashed pride
For the love of God and our human rights
And all these things are swept aside
By bloody hands time can't deny
And are washed away by your genocide
And history hides the lies of our civil wars
D'you wear a black armband
When they shot the man
Who said "Peace could last forever"
And in my first memories
They shot Kennedy
I went numb when I learned to see
So I never fell for Vietnam
We got the wall of D.C. to remind us all
That you can't trust freedom
When it's not in your hands
When everybody's fightin'
For their promised land
And
I don't need your civil war
It feeds the rich while it buries the poor
You're power hungry sellin' soldiers
In a human grocery store
Ain't that fresh
I don't need your civil war
Look at the shoes you're filling
Look at the blood we're spilling
Look at the world we're killing
The way we've always done before
Look in the doubt we've wallowed
Look at the leaders we've followed
Look at the lies we've swallowed
And I don't want to hear no more
My hands are tied
For all I've seen has changed my mind
But still the wars go on as the years go by
With no love of God or our human rights
and all these dreams are swept aside
By bloody hands of the hypnotized
Who carry the cross of homicide
And history bears the scars of our civil wars
We practice selective annihilation
Of mayors and government officials
For example to create a vacuum
Then we fill that vacuum
As popular war advances
Peace is closer
I don't need your civil war
It feeds the rich while it buries the poor
You're power hungry sellin' soldiers
In a human grocery store
Ain't that fresh
And I don't need your civil war
I don't need your civil war
I don't need your civil war
You're power hungry sellin' soldiers
In a human grocery store
Ain't that fresh
I don't need your civil war
I don't need one more war
I don't need one more war
Whaz so civil 'bout war anyway?
guns and roses
Sunday, February 27, 2011
how to be a succesful artist
Here is my view. Talk a really BIG GAME, open up your big mouth and tell everyone that you are the best thing since sliced bread..Humbleness is a farce. After you open your big mouth to everyone (including the media) you will be in such a dire and painted corner that your only choice will be to come up with the goods. You will be the proverbial kid thrown in the river---sink or swim. You may drown but you will be IN THE RIVER---- 98% of artists remain on the shore with the toes of timidity dipped in for temperature. There is no wisdom on the shore....all wisdom lies mid stream. Failure isnt a big deal, you will probably fail but the only true sin is not jumping in with both feet and a full heart.
a different drum
If my boat crashed on an island and I had one song on one CD it would be this one...This sums it all up for me, my life, my dreams my passions...
How to Blog
► 2007 (1073)
Here is a list to all my blog posts. If you start something you better damn well give it all you have.. No half measures. People sometimes ask me for art advice etc and I tell them to do this..start a website a blog etc.. If they half ass it, I drop them like a bad habit. I will go to the end of the earh for you if you are my friend but if you half ass it, Im done. There is no room in life for half hearted anything. Put all your chips on the table or go home.
Here is a list to all my blog posts. If you start something you better damn well give it all you have.. No half measures. People sometimes ask me for art advice etc and I tell them to do this..start a website a blog etc.. If they half ass it, I drop them like a bad habit. I will go to the end of the earh for you if you are my friend but if you half ass it, Im done. There is no room in life for half hearted anything. Put all your chips on the table or go home.
My favorite poem
The Red Wheelbarrow
William Carlos Williams
so much depends
upon
a red wheel
barrow
barrow
glazed with rain
water
water
beside the white
chickens.
chickens.
I read this when I was 16 and It became an obsession of mine. I still love this poem and will continue to love it until I am interred with my bones.
IQ
See this IQ chart? My IQ isn't even on there. So I am literally "off the chart" send me money and cans of spam. I dont charge for my genius but I damn well should...the first person to send me a can of spam will get a full oil painting painted by my genius..here is my address..409 east 74th street 3b NYC 10021
The gov should pay for people with genius IQ's to just be...just to walk around and think..genius should never have to toil in day jobs. Geniuses are like the village shaman, they will heal humanity. They gave us lightbulbs and tube socks. Most people are modest. Modesty annoys me, I like to sing my own name when I walk alone down the streets of life.
best quote ever
"Obama is a coward in a cheap suit" charlie sheen
today
Today I am going to paint a portrait of my ex girlfriend, Monika. She is a beauty for the ages and still somehow manages to be a close friend of mine. Will post later.
lightbulbs to transmit data
The gov/ new world order has decided to take away your incandescent bulbs. They brainwashed you into a green unthinking blob of stupidity so you would give up your bulbs to make al gore happy. Now the bulbs they are going to give you are going to be able to "flicker" By this I mean they are going to be able to transmit data..coded data..yes, this is true and no I am not crazy. It has been proven that the flicker rate of TV's are able to put people in hypnotic trances (The reason why I cant communicate with 98% of the zombie populace) but these new bulbs are going to pulse and flicker and wreak havoc on your little pound of grey matter. The flicker rate of fluorescents have been proven to cause many health issues--blood sugar, diabetes etc...I have all the scientific studies---get off your ass and google this yourself. These new lights will not only be able to ruin your health, they can send data to your computer. Welcome to the future, zombie.
I decided to link one article so you dont think I am making this up..there are thousands of articles out there.
http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_16954380?nclick_check=1
I decided to link one article so you dont think I am making this up..there are thousands of articles out there.
http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_16954380?nclick_check=1
insane or genius
I met a french girl in a restaurant who told me I was either a genius or I was insane..she couldnt decide. I prefer genius, it is much sexier than insane. Genius has passion, Insanity is like an old dirty mattress left on a curb, people walk away. Genius has humour, insanity is like old sushi. I prefer genius, just as a child prefers dessert to vegetables.
free drawing by gardega
The first person to read this and email me gets a free drawing..a good drawing, not a crappy one. I am in a damn good mood! so happy to be back home in NYC!
alexgardega@gmail.com
wall murals nyc: by gardega
the average british male
The Avg. british male spends eleven years in front of the TV and spends 10,500 hours in a pub. I am not avg. I dont watch TV because I am a working machine of art devastation. TV insults my brain, I dont like my brain insulted. Most people are so dumbed down they dont mind TV, they sit there and watch beer commercials with open mouths and drool on their lap. My brain is geometrically aligned with the cosmos and it doesnt let itself be numbed. I do plead guilty to liking old pubs, old pubs are, too me, little vacations from my overactive mind. In old pubs my wheels slow a bit but I still draw ideas on napkins...VIVA GARDEGA
Saturday, February 26, 2011
dribble
your ‘dribble’ every day. It make me lmao; If you will. And no, it’s not spelled right. It’s ornery.
John
words of genius: dylan
Well, my heart's in the highlands, gentle and fair
Honey suckle bloomin' in the wildwood air
Bluebells blazin' where the Aberdeen waters flow
Well, my heart's in the highlands, I'm gonna go there when
I feel good enough to go.
Windows were shakin' all night in my dreams
Everything was exactly the way that it seems
Woke up this mornin' and I looked at the same old page
Same old rat race, life in the same old cage.
I don't want nothin' from anyone, ain't that much to take
Wouldn't know the difference between a real blonde and a fake
Feel like a prisoner in a world of mystery
I wish someone would come and push back the clock for me.
Well, my heart's in the highlands, wherever I roam
That's where I'll be when I get called home
The wind it whispers to the buck-eyed trees of rhyme
Well, my heart's in the highlands, I can only get there one step at a time.
I'm listening to Neil Young, I gotta turn up the sound
Someone's always yellin', "Turn him down"
Feel like I'm driftin', driftin' from scene to scene
I'm wondering what in the devil could it all possibly mean.
Insanity is smashin' up against my soul
You could say I was on anything but a roll
If I had a conscience, well I just might blow my top
What would I do with it anyway, maybe take it to the pawn shop.
My heart's in the highlands at the break of dawn
By the beautiful lake of the black swan
Big white clouds like chariots that swing down low
Well, my heart's in the highlands, only place left to go.
I'm in Boston town, in some restaurant
I got no idea what I want
Or maybe I do but, I'm just really not sure
Waitress comes over, nobody in the place but me and her.
Well, it must be a holiday, there's nobody around
She studies me closely as I sit down
She got a pretty face, with long white shiny legs
I said, "Tell me what I want," she say, "You probably want hard boiled eggs."
I say, "That's right, bring me some."
She says, "We ain't got any, you picked the wrong time to come."
Then she says, "I know you're an artist, draw a picture of me."
I said, "I would if I could but I don't do sketches from memory."
Well, she then, she says, "I'm right here in front of you, or
haven't you looked?"
I say, "All right, I know but I don't have my drawing book."
She gives me a napkin, she say, "You can do it on that."
I say, "Yes I could but I don't know where my pencil is at."
She pulls one out from behind her ear
She says, "All right now go ahead, draw me, I'm stayin' right here."
I make a few lines and I show it for her to see
Well, she takes her napkin and throws it back and says, "That
don't look a thing like me."
I said, "Oh, kind Miss, it most certainly does."
She say, "You must be jokin'," I say, "I wish I was."
Then she says, "You don't read women authors do ya?" at least
that's what I think I hear her say
Well, I said, "How would you know and what would it matter anyway?"
Well she says, "You just don't seem like you do." I said,
"You're way wrong."
She says "Which ones have you read then?" I say, "I've read
Erica Jong."
She goes away for a minute and I slide out, out of my chair
I step outside back to the busy street but nobody is goin' anywhere.
Well, my heart's in the highlands with the horses and hounds
Way up in the border country far from the towns
With the twang of the arrow and the snap of the bow
My heart's in the highlands, I can't see any other way to go.
Every day is the same thing, out the door
Feel further away than ever before
Some things in life it just gets too late to learn
Well, I'm lost somewhere, I must have made a few bad turns.
I see people in the park forgettin' their troubles and woes
They're drinkin' and dancin', wearin' bright colored clothes
All the young men, with the young women lookin' so good
Well, I'd trade places with any of 'em in a minute, if I could.
I'm crossing the street to get away from a mangy dog
Talkin' to myself in a monologue
I think what I need might be a full length leather coat
Somebody just asked me if I've registered to vote.
The sun is beginnin' to shine on me
But it's not like the sun that used to be
The party's over and there's less and less to say
I got new eyes, everything looks far away.
Well, my heart's in the highlands at the break of day
Over the hills and far away
There's a way to get there and I'll figure it out somehow
Well, I'm already there in my mind, and that's good enough for now.
Honey suckle bloomin' in the wildwood air
Bluebells blazin' where the Aberdeen waters flow
Well, my heart's in the highlands, I'm gonna go there when
I feel good enough to go.
Windows were shakin' all night in my dreams
Everything was exactly the way that it seems
Woke up this mornin' and I looked at the same old page
Same old rat race, life in the same old cage.
I don't want nothin' from anyone, ain't that much to take
Wouldn't know the difference between a real blonde and a fake
Feel like a prisoner in a world of mystery
I wish someone would come and push back the clock for me.
Well, my heart's in the highlands, wherever I roam
That's where I'll be when I get called home
The wind it whispers to the buck-eyed trees of rhyme
Well, my heart's in the highlands, I can only get there one step at a time.
I'm listening to Neil Young, I gotta turn up the sound
Someone's always yellin', "Turn him down"
Feel like I'm driftin', driftin' from scene to scene
I'm wondering what in the devil could it all possibly mean.
Insanity is smashin' up against my soul
You could say I was on anything but a roll
If I had a conscience, well I just might blow my top
What would I do with it anyway, maybe take it to the pawn shop.
My heart's in the highlands at the break of dawn
By the beautiful lake of the black swan
Big white clouds like chariots that swing down low
Well, my heart's in the highlands, only place left to go.
I'm in Boston town, in some restaurant
I got no idea what I want
Or maybe I do but, I'm just really not sure
Waitress comes over, nobody in the place but me and her.
Well, it must be a holiday, there's nobody around
She studies me closely as I sit down
She got a pretty face, with long white shiny legs
I said, "Tell me what I want," she say, "You probably want hard boiled eggs."
I say, "That's right, bring me some."
She says, "We ain't got any, you picked the wrong time to come."
Then she says, "I know you're an artist, draw a picture of me."
I said, "I would if I could but I don't do sketches from memory."
Well, she then, she says, "I'm right here in front of you, or
haven't you looked?"
I say, "All right, I know but I don't have my drawing book."
She gives me a napkin, she say, "You can do it on that."
I say, "Yes I could but I don't know where my pencil is at."
She pulls one out from behind her ear
She says, "All right now go ahead, draw me, I'm stayin' right here."
I make a few lines and I show it for her to see
Well, she takes her napkin and throws it back and says, "That
don't look a thing like me."
I said, "Oh, kind Miss, it most certainly does."
She say, "You must be jokin'," I say, "I wish I was."
Then she says, "You don't read women authors do ya?" at least
that's what I think I hear her say
Well, I said, "How would you know and what would it matter anyway?"
Well she says, "You just don't seem like you do." I said,
"You're way wrong."
She says "Which ones have you read then?" I say, "I've read
Erica Jong."
She goes away for a minute and I slide out, out of my chair
I step outside back to the busy street but nobody is goin' anywhere.
Well, my heart's in the highlands with the horses and hounds
Way up in the border country far from the towns
With the twang of the arrow and the snap of the bow
My heart's in the highlands, I can't see any other way to go.
Every day is the same thing, out the door
Feel further away than ever before
Some things in life it just gets too late to learn
Well, I'm lost somewhere, I must have made a few bad turns.
I see people in the park forgettin' their troubles and woes
They're drinkin' and dancin', wearin' bright colored clothes
All the young men, with the young women lookin' so good
Well, I'd trade places with any of 'em in a minute, if I could.
I'm crossing the street to get away from a mangy dog
Talkin' to myself in a monologue
I think what I need might be a full length leather coat
Somebody just asked me if I've registered to vote.
The sun is beginnin' to shine on me
But it's not like the sun that used to be
The party's over and there's less and less to say
I got new eyes, everything looks far away.
Well, my heart's in the highlands at the break of day
Over the hills and far away
There's a way to get there and I'll figure it out somehow
Well, I'm already there in my mind, and that's good enough for now.
done
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ruins
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walls 5 and 6
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wall number 3
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update
Almost done with another wall. Gonna hit a fourth one today then hit the road back to nYc. My own home, own bed, clean socks.
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words of the day
Its cold comfort, to those without it, to know how they stuggled, how they suffered about it...if their lives were exotic and strange, they would likely and gladly exchange them for some a little more plain, something a little more sane...N.peart
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4am thoughts
I woke up at 4am last night with a blistering hangover and I started to think about my favorite painting (the school of athens by raphael) I was thinking about the geometry of the masterwork. I think I have the geometry solved. The brain of gardega is Like a 1974 maroon gremlin car with a ferrari engine. It looks like shit but its under the hood that counts. My genius came from the streets, not from some brain dead professor dropping the worms of idiocy into my beak. Professors are dangerous people, they are uni bombers in twead. Beware of professors. The only true teacher is reality and nature, and raphael...
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hmmm
I wasnt feeling the love of art this morning so I did a shot of absinthe. This to most people would seem insane at 7:00 but I am alexander. I like to push the envelope. Somehow I have learned the fine and gentle craft of pushing the envelope just so it doesnt fall off the table. Art is made on the edge, art is dangerous, she has a fiery I but I comfortable with her, I have learned her dance moves. Ill do anything to psyche myself up to a good day of painting. If Im not feeling the fire then my painting will be lifeless and there will be none of that ( as the british say) time to rock some walls hoo rah.
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true story
I heard on the radio yesterday that a homeless man found his daughter on twitter. They decided to meet yesterday in Bryan Park. I thin it very nice that she decided to meet him at his place...
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words of the day
Moonrise, thoughtful eyes, staring back at me from the window inside...no fright or hindsight, leaving behind that empty feeling inside.-----Neil peart
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we've got oceans of wine
We've got warehouses of butter
We've got oceans of wine
We've got famine when you need it
We've got designer crime. Roger waters
I drank an ocean of wine last night but I got my ass up at 6am, I am ready to rock and roll and to paint for 12 hours. In the news today, dolphins are dying in gulf of mexico. Couldnt have anything to do with the millions of gallons of toxic dispersant BP dumped into ocean could it. Notice has the media wont cover the BP oil as it stands? No coverage of underwater oil mass...my client gave me the only compliment that matters to me last night. He told me, Alex, you work your ass off. I would rather hear that than be told I am a good and talented artist. That is what matters to me. I will out work any artist I know. My rule is a drawing or painting every day and if you dont do this you are not an artist. Go flip burgers. A lazy artist is a dead artist. All hope hinges on sweat equity. Time to paint!!! Rock and roll, where my red bull?
We've got oceans of wine
We've got famine when you need it
We've got designer crime. Roger waters
I drank an ocean of wine last night but I got my ass up at 6am, I am ready to rock and roll and to paint for 12 hours. In the news today, dolphins are dying in gulf of mexico. Couldnt have anything to do with the millions of gallons of toxic dispersant BP dumped into ocean could it. Notice has the media wont cover the BP oil as it stands? No coverage of underwater oil mass...my client gave me the only compliment that matters to me last night. He told me, Alex, you work your ass off. I would rather hear that than be told I am a good and talented artist. That is what matters to me. I will out work any artist I know. My rule is a drawing or painting every day and if you dont do this you are not an artist. Go flip burgers. A lazy artist is a dead artist. All hope hinges on sweat equity. Time to paint!!! Rock and roll, where my red bull?
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Friday, February 25, 2011
victim nation
I was just listening to a radio station as I paint. People with addictions were on talking about AA and the like. The essence of what they were saying is that you have to admit you are powerless and that you have no control. In my mind, that is the exact kind of thinking that led you into your mess. Man up. I wouldnt want to be alive if I had to accept I was a victim of anything. I would prefer death to a victims life, a powerless life. There is no point in wasting perfectly good oxygen if you are not living but rather walking around without guts.
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charlie sheen
By nature I am a libertarian. My hardwiring as a human has been constant since I was eight. My basic nature is leave me the hell alone. I dont care what you do, I dont judge what you do. I may comment about it but I respect each persons individual path. I believe that men should be left to their own devices to create their own reality and no god, or government or empire should interfere witht his personal freedom. For some reason artists tend to have a herd mentality which is, to me, antithetical to being a free and creative human. I ask nothing from anyone except to be left alone to create my art and reality as I see it. I am a bit dismayed that so many people are judging charlie sheen, he has the right to live as he sees fit. This is essential to a free society. Humans are generally afraid of life and the idea of living free from the chains of society or others peoples accusing eyes is too much. Men cant handle freedom, it is a horrifying notion and that is why men spend half their lives constructing their own cages and the other half of their lives living in their cages. To go with the flow, to conform, to not rock the boat, this is the way of most people and it is the way of sheep. This is also why humans have always killed their saviours. Time to paint.
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too much rope
Technology, in my mind will be our undoing. It is the too much rope syndrome and we will eventually hang ourselves with the noose of progress. Progress has no patience and Pandoras box is open, the genie cannot be put back in the bottle. I think the great danger lies in mans reliance on technology and his loss of the ability to survive without. If the great switch is ever turned off man will be lost like a babe in the woods and the wolves will circle in fast. Methinks.
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alex thinks
I just found an email from the mother of an artist I skewered on my blog a few weeks ago. She was defending her son. She seemed very nice and it was a pleasant, classy email. I forget that people read my dribble. I really do, when I go on an art rant I write it for myself and forget that people read my stuff. It takes me aback sometimes that a person from another part of the country or world reads what you type in your apt. On 74th street. I write my thoughts out for therapy so I dont pay for a couch or take medication. Nobody wants to upset a mother, mothers are right up there with angles and puppies. I dont mind slinging stones at other artists because many deserve the Gardega treatment but I sometimes forget it may be actually read. Such is life. I stand by 98% of what I say but I guess I could go easier on other artists but my nature is to tell it like I see it for better or for worse. It is part of my ornary nature. Did I spell ornary right?
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On the news
I was watching news this morning and I saw a protestor had as his protest sign a picture of Ayn Rand. I saw it and recognized her immediately. This led me to think about how the brain recognizes faces. Isnt it strange that you can recognize a face that was photographed from 100 feet away on a moving protest sign? Perhaps this has to do with the importance of being able to distinguish between strangers and family as an infant. Facial recognition is important to human survival. Perhaps there was a time when humans had an advanced sense of smell and less visual prowess like dogs. I would like to know more about the part of the brain that recognizes faces. I think visual memory is in the very rear of the brain but I could be wrong. Any brain surgeons out there?
A.
A.
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Thursday, February 24, 2011
update
13.5 hour day. Shot. Tired. I did two hours of hand lettering to cap the day. I never do hand lettering but after 12 hours your hand eye is on spot and I banged out the lettering in a daze and rocked it. Too tired to take off my shoes...ill bet i fall asleep in my boots.
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a days work
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the shuttle launch
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imp
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imp descending a staircase
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a word on supplies
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How to paint with an axe
I was talking to a guy yesterday as I was painting my wine cellar murals. He was a really nice guy and he told me his daughter was an artist in art school in pennsylvania. He told me he will be happy when she graduates and he doesnt have to pay her rent and she doesnt live off his credit card. I told him it was really nice that he did this for his daughter. He obviously loved his daighter and told me thats what dads are for. He also told me that last week his daughter needed a certain paint she couldnt find for a school project so her dad went to an art store in NYC and bought the paint and drove it all the way to Pa. After he left I thought about my art school days when I had to decide if I was going to have a slice of pizza or buy a tube of paint. I used to flip a coin for "pizza or paint" every time I went to an art store and would watch kids fill up their basket with daddies credit card i would get so pissed because I was lucky if I could afford a tenth of what I needed. This planted a certain seed in me, a fire that has never left me. I vowed to myself if I couldnt afford the right stuff I was going to make up for it in two ways. Passion and hardwork. I once had a kid laugh at me in art school because I didnt have a real palette and I didnt say anything except to myself that I was going to outwork him, out paint him and get myself a name. I heard three years ago he was working for wester union. I kept my word. I took pleasure in hearing this. An art teacher once told me that you shouldnt paint with an axe to grind. I not only paint with an axe to grind I paint with an axe. I have a shed full of axes that need grinding. I once had an ex tell me her new man was an artist and that he was the son of a millionaire, the only thing I cared about was that I had to be a better artist than him when I saw his work it looked like a thumbless third grader did it so my fears went away. I am hard wired like this and I am honest about it. I am driven by a fire that started in my belly ages ago and it never left me. When I was seventeen I wanted to learn glass etching to pay for art school so I went to a guy who did it and he threw me out of his studio when I asked him to teach me. I vowed that i was going to master the art on my own destroy him and take his clients. I did this in three years time. 15 years later I was writing articles on art for a magazine and they asked me to write about an artist, it turned out to be the guy and I reminded him of the day he threw me out. I wrote the article and his art looked like it was puke on the black and white checkered floor of an 80's disco. I showed him my glass work and he couldnt speak. I am the kind of person who will spend fifteen years to make something happen. I wont give up, ever. When I lock into an idea ill eat nails if I have to get it to happen. People tell me this is not a way to be and not a way to make art. I say my ass it isnt. Whatever fire works for you, go with it. If its is axe grinding or happy tree hugging, go with it. I am so on fire with ideas and passion for art I cant even sleep past five AM my brain wants to get up and make art. Sometimes artists will knock you, I had a friend of mine come to an art show of mine and tell me I havent improved. He hasnt painted in 15 years and has never had a show. Ihave had dozens of show. I made more paintings last year than he has made in his career. This is just how people are. I dont pay heed to other artists, they dont mean much to me. (Minus a select few) most artists are all talk, no action. Put up or shut up. In short, my point is whatever drives you is noble, dont judge it. My engine runs on a mix of anger, passion, conviction and gut fire. If I had daddies gold amex in art school I would probably be working at western union. I dont ever wish other artist ill, that is bad karma. I just have to be better than you. If I cant be better than you I am at the very least outwork you and maybe in 10 years I will be better than you. Any artist who tells you they dont want to sell their work is a liar and any artist who tells you they arent competitive is a liar. I am honest, I tell it like it is. Believe in yourself and others will do the same. Failure isnt a thing to be feared, not trying is the only sin. But alas, I have rambled long and said little and I have to go hit the paints...wheres my axe?
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Wednesday, February 23, 2011
update
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I've been had cream!
Hey folks! Do you have an embarrasing bumper sticker on your car from a politician you had hope in and you were left holding a basket of empty dreams that you were sold? Try new Ive been had cream! It takes that ole bumper sticker right off your bumper with no effort! Is your candidate a warmonger, torturing, lying, snakey, over-spending weasel like the last one you voted out? No problem! Just apply youve been had cream to your bumper and your neighbors will be none the wiser that you were suckered! Only 9.95! Just apply our cream to your broken dream called a bumper sticker and wait 15 minutes..Bingo. No more Scarlet letter on your hybrid to show that you, my friend, were had...now back to our show..
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update
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words of the day
Beauty is no match for gravity..gardega said that
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update
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how to blow up a drawing using a grid
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art lesson by gardega: how to scale up a drawing
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update
Good day painting yesterday. Put in about 12 hours. Then some red wine and a little absinthe. Those who know anything about absinthe know that lautrec and his circle were all absinthe drinkers. There is the famous painting of the absinthe drinkers by degas. I believe that was his. I wouldnt drink too much of that stuff at anyone time. But it was a good evening and im ready to paint again today. I will be back in NYC on saturday or sunday. A big part of painting is doing your homework and prep work. I hate prep work, my nature is to just attack I call this method point and paint. Point and paint can cause problems a also bring rewards. There is a lot of re-painting when you paint off the cuff. Happy accidents are the reason we have 75% of our science advancements including the discovery of benzene and polio vaccines. Dont be afraid of happy accidents in art. Let chance guide your brush. Pray to God but row away from the rocks. Time to make the donuts.
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Tuesday, February 22, 2011
memoirs
Since I am in Long Island I have decided to reflect on my life. I am sitting with my morning large redbull at 6 AM and getting ready for a day on my mural. It is 19 degrees outside, god bless the Northeast. I was born in huntington hospital under the sign of Sagitarius, the most philosophical of mis-spelled signs. I dont remember my birth but I take it on my mom's word that it happened. I was born with low birth weight, I was under 5 pounds but I chalk that up to my impatience as I was born weeks ahead of schedule. At six weeks I got my first job...my parents wanted me to have a good work ethic. At two my parents moved to the south. I am not sure why. We lived in alabama, tennesee and finally Texas. Moving would become a common thread in my life. I think I have a gypsy gene, a cowboys need to ramble. I have had more addresses than lindsay lohan has had problems. Im only at home when I am on the fly. I need adventure, excitement and the thought of living in a 2 mile radius of where I
grew up is a terrible thing. I am only at home on the fly. If I am living in NYC I am less restless, it is the only place that suits my hardwiring. I dont feel I should be elsewhere when I am in NYC. I have friends who live in Long Island who hate NYC, this baffles me. The suburbs are a place to escape from, not flee too..If I had a family I would raise my chickens in the suburbs I suppose but I dont so I wont. I am a surrealist rooster by nature.
grew up is a terrible thing. I am only at home on the fly. If I am living in NYC I am less restless, it is the only place that suits my hardwiring. I dont feel I should be elsewhere when I am in NYC. I have friends who live in Long Island who hate NYC, this baffles me. The suburbs are a place to escape from, not flee too..If I had a family I would raise my chickens in the suburbs I suppose but I dont so I wont. I am a surrealist rooster by nature.
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Monday, February 21, 2011
gardega update
Friday, February 18, 2011
she lives with a broken man
radiohead:
Her green plastic watering-can
For her fake Chinese rubber plant
In the fake plastic earth that she bought
From a rubber man in a town full of rubber plans
To get rid of itself, it wears her out
She lives with a broken man
A cracked polystyrene man
Who just crumbles and burns
He used to do surgery for girls in the eighties
But gravity always wins and it wears him out
She looks like the real thing
She tastes like the real thing
My fake plastic love
But I can't help the feeling
I could blow through the ceiling
If I just turn and run
And it wears me out
Her green plastic watering-can
For her fake Chinese rubber plant
In the fake plastic earth that she bought
From a rubber man in a town full of rubber plans
To get rid of itself, it wears her out
She lives with a broken man
A cracked polystyrene man
Who just crumbles and burns
He used to do surgery for girls in the eighties
But gravity always wins and it wears him out
She looks like the real thing
She tastes like the real thing
My fake plastic love
But I can't help the feeling
I could blow through the ceiling
If I just turn and run
And it wears me out
Thursday, February 17, 2011
wrestling
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/17/joel-northup-cassy-herkelman_n_824649.html
I was a wrestler for most of my junior high and high school days...I was an okay wrestler, not terrible, not great...The most important thing about the experience was that I never quit. I stuck with it from 7th grade to 12th grade. It taught me lessons in life that I carry to this day....Never quit and you have only lost in life when you give up. It taught me to be tough and endure and be strong. And it even helped me tackle a subway thug who stole a women's Iphone last year without even think about the chance of getting my face handed to me. Wearing what is essentially your underwear and going out to face a guy who wants to break your neck (without team mates helping you) is a scary thing. The only thing that really teaches you in life is fear..your parents dont teach you much and (if the truth be known) school doesnt teach you much and your friends dont teach you much...fear is the great teacher in life...that is the sand in the oyster that becomes a pearl, those are the lessons that last 20 years...the point of the article linked has minor relation to my post here but it struck a bell with me because I used to wrestle.
wisdom
Between what happens to you (the stimulus) and our response to this stimulus is a space and in that space lies all our human freedoms.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Solar Activity
Los angeles (CBS)
After the initial blast of radiation accompanying the coronal mass ejection (CME) — the first of its magnitude to occur in the new solar cycle of activity — a huge cloud of charged particles is headed toward Earth and is expected likely to arrive on Feb. 17-18.
Among the many potential disasters that can come from a massive CME: disturbances in the planet’s geomagnetic field that may lead to malfunctioning telecom and GPS satellite equipment.
While forecasters predict no major impact on our telecommunications infrastructure, scientists have pointed out the sun is now ramping up ahead of an expected solar maximum around 2013.
Monday, February 14, 2011
art update
I installed my second etched window on saturday..have to go back today to put in last panel as we had a scaffolding issue.Will photograph. feels good to get those things in, they aint easy to make and they aint easy to install..they are easy to break, though.
things that keep ya going
I recently had an email from a girl in illinois who wants to use one of my ballet paintings for her 8th grade project...This to me is awesome...things like that make your day and make you feel like art is worth the struggle in the end...the internet is an amazing thing we take for granted.
people's favorite artists...
I asked some friends online who their favorite artists are...
Fiona wrote:
"Alex Gardega"
"Alex Gardega"
Gianluca wrote: "oh definitely jasper johns, YOUR all time favorite :P"
Brandon wrote: "Tiepolo,Rembrandt,Vermeer,
Donna wrote: "Chagall-stained glass"
Bret wrote: "Vermeer,H.R. Geiger,Van Gogh,Dali,Monet, I like Peter Max but really only cause I met him at a party and he was pretty cool...Lots more for many reasons-Art of all kinds makes life worth living.Evidently,I went to school with a an excellent artist...who knew?"
Saturday, February 12, 2011
words of the day: come talk to me--gabriel
The wretched desert takes its form, the jackal proud and tight
In search of you, I feel my way, though the slowest heaving night
Whatever fear invents, I swear it make no sense
I reach through the border fence
Come down, come talk to me
In the swirling, curling storm of desire unuttered words hold fast
With reptile tongue, the lightning lashes towers built to last
Darkness creeps in like a thief and offers no relief
Why are you shaking like a leaf
Come on, come talk to me
Ah please talk to me
Won't you please talk to me
We can unlock this misery
Come on, come talk to me
{Chorus 1:}
I did not come to steal
This all is so unreal
Can't you show me how you feel now
Come on, come talk to me
Come talk to me [x2]
The earthly power sucks shadowed milk from sleepy tears undone
From nippled skin as smooth as silk the bugles blown as one
You lie there with your eyes half closed like there's no-one there at all
There's a tension pulling on your face
Come on, come talk to me
Won't you please talk to me
If you'd just talk to me
Unblock this misery
If you'd only talk to me
[ From: http://www.metrolyrics.com/come-talk-to-me-lyrics-peter-gabriel.html ]
{Chorus 2:}
Don't you ever change your mind
Now your future's so defined
And you act so deaf and blind
[And you act so deaf so blind]
Come on, come talk to me
Come talk to me [x2]
I can imagine the moment
Breaking out through the silence
All the things that we both might say
And the heart it will not be denied
'Til we're both on the same damn side
All the barriers blown away
I said please talk to me
Won't you please come talk to me
Just like it used to be
Come on, come talk to me
I did not come to steal
This all is so unreal
Can you show me how you feel now
Come on, come talk to me
Come talk to me [x2]
I said please talk to me
If you'd just talk to me
Unblock this misery
If you'd only talk to me
[Chorus 2]
In search of you, I feel my way, though the slowest heaving night
Whatever fear invents, I swear it make no sense
I reach through the border fence
Come down, come talk to me
In the swirling, curling storm of desire unuttered words hold fast
With reptile tongue, the lightning lashes towers built to last
Darkness creeps in like a thief and offers no relief
Why are you shaking like a leaf
Come on, come talk to me
Ah please talk to me
Won't you please talk to me
We can unlock this misery
Come on, come talk to me
{Chorus 1:}
I did not come to steal
This all is so unreal
Can't you show me how you feel now
Come on, come talk to me
Come talk to me [x2]
The earthly power sucks shadowed milk from sleepy tears undone
From nippled skin as smooth as silk the bugles blown as one
You lie there with your eyes half closed like there's no-one there at all
There's a tension pulling on your face
Come on, come talk to me
Won't you please talk to me
If you'd just talk to me
Unblock this misery
If you'd only talk to me
[ From: http://www.metrolyrics.com/come-talk-to-me-lyrics-peter-gabriel.html ]
{Chorus 2:}
Don't you ever change your mind
Now your future's so defined
And you act so deaf and blind
[And you act so deaf so blind]
Come on, come talk to me
Come talk to me [x2]
I can imagine the moment
Breaking out through the silence
All the things that we both might say
And the heart it will not be denied
'Til we're both on the same damn side
All the barriers blown away
I said please talk to me
Won't you please come talk to me
Just like it used to be
Come on, come talk to me
I did not come to steal
This all is so unreal
Can you show me how you feel now
Come on, come talk to me
Come talk to me [x2]
I said please talk to me
If you'd just talk to me
Unblock this misery
If you'd only talk to me
[Chorus 2]
Friday, February 11, 2011
certified
I was cleaning my cabinet this morning..( I do things like that--- 6 am cleaning of my cabinets) So I see a sticker inside the cabinet that says "certified cabinet" I am so glad my cabinets are certified. I am not sure I would sleep quite right if they werent so. If they arent certified as cabinets, what are they? Fish tanks? And who is the guy that determines if it is a cabinet? "Hmmm, yep, it has a door and shelves! let me slap the ole certified sticker on her." does he get benefits at this job? Is he still alive? Maybe certified cabinets feel superior to non-certified cabinets...maybe its snob thing. One thing that is certified was the time you wasted reading this, you cant have that time back.
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Alice in Winter Watercolor
12 x 16 inches on arches paper to purchase https://tendollarart.com/products/alice-in-winter-watercolor
